Fears that the timetable for the 13 Total Place pilots to report is too elastic have been highlighted in a decision by a group of South West councils to fund their own pilot programme.
The South West RIEP has agreed to a proposal from Gloucestershire CC chief executive, Peter Bungard, to allocate £1.5m across the region, divided among Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire CCs, and Bristol City Council. Dorset is already one of the CLG Total Place pilots, focusing on adult services.
Mr Bungard told The MJ: ‘I usually believe in pilots, but I’m extremely uncomfortable about the current 13 Total Place national pilots, for which the Government has unrealistic assumptions.
‘Lessons from them will only start in November/December this year, which is too late for our own budget planning for 2010/11.’
He said once members had confirmed the RIEP funding, the local pilots would start reporting from September, in time to feed into 2010 budget planning. He added: ‘Their priority areas will be the back-office, service redesign and preventative investment.’
Under the CLG/Treasury timetable, the national pilots, backed by £5m funding, will deliver their interim findings in October in time for the pre-Budget announcement, with their final report due next March.
Some of the 13 national pilots met last week in Birmingham for a seminar hosted by pilot Birmingham City Council and the LSP, BeBirmingham, which recently produced a detailed study into public spending in the city.
Council chief executive, Stephen Hughes, said the city and LSP were now examining six areas to find collaborative benefits, including looked-after children, mental health, learning disabilities, drug misuse and gangs.
The national pilot programme is co-ordinated by the Leadership Centre, and led by a ministerial group and an officer group.
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